19.01.26, 20:00, Nikola Meeuwsen, Mendelssohn, Scriabin & Schumann

Twenty-three years old and winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition, the Dutch pianist Nikola Meeuwsen hardly needs an introduction anymore. He won over both the audience and the jury with sensitive and colourful piano playing. The versatile Variations sérieuses by Felix Mendelssohn fits Meeuwsen like a glove. In the theme and the seventeen variations that follow, he can showcase his refined virtuosity to the fullest. Scriabin’s dreamy Poème then sketches a completely different sound world. To conclude the programme, we hear a Carnaval à la Schumann — far more exuberant than we are used to from the composer: in this early work Schumann clearly still brimmed with vitality, though a darker edge already glimmers through from time to time. And so we end an evening that began in a serious vein on a somewhat lighter note after all.

Program

F. Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
– Variations serieuses

A. Scriabin (1871-1915)
– Poème op. 32  no. 1 in Fis majeur

R. Schumann (1810-1856)
– Carnaval op. 9